DOJ Begins AbsolutePoker and UB Claims Remission Process

Players with balances on AbsolutePoker and UB can now apply for a refund through the US Department of Justice.
Just five days before what will be the sixth anniversary of Black Friday, online poker players affected by the shutdown of AbsolutePoker.com and UB.com have gotten good news from the United States Attorney’s Office or the Southern District of New York.

Beginning immediately, players who had funds on AbsolutePoker.com and UB.com on April 15, 2011, can apply to have their balances refunded to them via AbsolutePokerClaims.com. The US Department of Justice has again contracted Garden City Group to handle all applications and payments.
In a press release from the DOJ issued Monday afternoon, Joon H. Kim, who is the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York following the resignation of Preet Bharara, announced the compensation program.

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“Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that the United States has retained the Garden City Group (“GCG”) to oversee a process for compensating eligible victims of a fraud committed by Absolute Poker against United States players who were unable to withdraw funds from Absolute Poker following the Office’s filing in 2011 of a civil money laundering and forfeiture action against Absolute Poker and others in United States v. PokerStars, et al.

GCG is already overseeing the claims process for eligible victims of the fraud committed by Full Tilt Poker against United States players, as described in both United States v. PokerStars, et al., and the indictment in the parallel criminal case, United States v. Bitar, et. al. To date, approximately $118 million has been paid to Full Tilt Poker fraud victims through that process.

The process is nearly identical to the one used by the GCG to refund players with Full Tilt Poker balances. That process, which is “winding down” according to the DOJ, paid out $118,116,918.04 to 44,320 American players.

The deadline to apply is June 9, 2017.

Past or present employees, company shareholders, company officers or directors or “Professional Poker Players” and affiliates are ineligible. During the Full Tilt remissions process, many FTP pros were denied their initial claim only to have their balances refunded during subsequent rounds of refunds.

Players with account balances were contacted via the email on file in their account and can use that information to begin the application process. Players who did not receive the email can begin the process by using their Player ID, last name and the email address on file.

Players who agree with the account balance that GCG has on file are not required to submit any further documentation to receive payment. Players who wish to dispute the amount will need to provide supporting documentation such as financial statements for review.

Players will not receive any compensation for tournament dollars, step tickets, loyalty points or event dollars on their account.

The DOJ went on to compare the business practices of Absolute Poker to those of Full Tilt Poker.

“Additionally, the Department of Justice has concluded that players of Absolute Poker who were unable to recover their funds from Absolute Poker are similarly situated to the eligible victims of Full Tilt Poker, in that Absolute Poker, like Full Tilt Poker, did not maintain funds sufficient to repay all of its players,” the release stated.